Recording Equipment

I am looking for a good used Shure sm58/sm58S (switch) or something similar for vocals.

I was considering a sm57 beta or a sm58 beta as well.

Anyone had any really good experience with any great vocal mics that are similar?

How about condenser mics? Any great ones that are on the cheaper side?

I have to laugh we just had a Guitar Center open it's doors fairly close to us in Somerville and they are just plain awful. Prices are high and employees are not what I call knowledgeable. You can tell they will sell you anything you are dumb enough to buy and they don't care too much if you are 100% on the item in question...

I'm not surprised if a new GC doesn't have any knowledgable people - unless there are guys who commuted to other GCs and now can work closer to home.
Prices should be the same as any other GC. Usually new stores will get a load of used (some junk) equipment from other stores until they get some trades of their own.

Microphone - for live use? SM58s are hard to beat, tough as nails, but you can get equals for 1/3 of the price with just-as-good-specs, and maybe a little brighter sound - check out the GLS em58 on Amazon. The Beta 58 is a step up from the SM58, not sure that the tone is worth 50% more, though - every voice is different.
If you want something to cut through the mix (for the lead singer) and have phantom power available, the Beta 87 or SM86.

Someone just offered me a Shure Sm57 A beta.

Any good >?

57's are usually instrument mics, 58's vocal mics. The 57A Beta is a little hotter (more volume) than a standard SM57 and works better than a 58 with some voices. New they sell for around $140, compared to $100 for the SM57/58.
Used should be 50% - 70% of new price.

I once used a beta 58 condenser mic and it was fantastic, so I went down and purchased my own.

But I noticed immediately that the one I got worked without phantom power, so I assumed I had made a mistake. Was there some small distinction in the model number I had missed? Were there beta 58 mics that weren't phantom powered or non-condenser? Being in the middle of a tour, that mic has been kept in a case ever since and I use a 57 instead.

Recently I went into a Guitar Center to see if I could figure out where I made an error in purchasing the wrong mic. I told them about my mic and they said that a beta 58 condenser mic would NOT work without phantom power, so I got it out and we plugged it in to compare with their beta 58's.

Apparently I have the only beta 58 in the world that works without phantom power.

Anyone interested in buying this one-of-a-kind microphone?

I find it has too much high end and not enough lows, unlike the one I first tried onstage years ago. In my opinion, nothing really beats a 57 for punch and clarity live.





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Yod - that's what you get for asking advice at a GC! Beta 58s are not condensor mics, they are dynamics. Of course if you called it 'condensor', the GC 'expert' would say it needs phantom power.
Without checking numbers, he probably was thinking of a Beta 87/86, which is a condensor mic.
Note that some condensor mics have a battery in them to provide the power (but not the Shures).

Ok, now I am confused. lol

Ok, now I am confused. lol

How much did the guy want for the 57A Beta?

Do you want this mic for recording or live play, Chief? Or both? For just vocals, or do you want to use it for amp/instrument mic-ing, too?

It's just a "vocal" mic going to do double duty, recording and live.
(If I get a decent sounding mic, it's probably better to use it in both situations so as to remain consistent.)

We used a condenser mic for "Irrational", but that's since left the scene of the crime and that's ok considering one guy called me gimmicky because we used it. (really? that was a cheap shot imo)(if you want to call me gimmicky, use it on my guitar sound...that I hear all the time.)

I don't really want anything that will be problematic regardless of how lush it might sound. I want something consistent and a switch would be nice.
(I fing hate vocal feedback)

The 57A beta is used at 89$ and an ugly ride to retrieve it from a local that is not local. (ouch)

I looked at that GLS EM58 28.99 + tax and shipping. (woot)

The trouble is that we are getting close to laying a vocal on our latest tune. The mic we're going to use could be better, but has served before in adequate fashion. I won't down it because it seemed ok to me. Then again what I know about that fits in a thimble.

I think I may order a GLS EM 58, but it won't be here in time.
I think that vocal track will be laid on Monday, but I don't know the future.

If I did, I'd play POWERBALL FTW.

I throw a hell of a party after I win a couple mil or so. Everyone is invited. LOL Please use bathroom, not pool. ...

You can't go wrong for $30 with that GLS for live work - it's almost 'disposable' at that price. I bought 2 of the 57 model (only need 1) for amp mic-ing, but used them as a pair to record my acoustic on the currenrt song I'm working on and the sound was great - better than my AKG condensor as there was less reflection/background noise. At least 1 of the guys in my band uses an EM58 and you can't tell the difference through the PA system from the SM58 I use.

Use whatever you've got for the recording on Monday, but if you are going to be recording more vocals in the future, consider a dedicated condensor mic. I picked up my AKG Perception 220 for 1/2 price, barely used, on Ebay, and it makes a world of difference compared to the SM58 I had been using.

You know Mike, I would but I am a "record it live" type of guy and when people slam me with stuff that resembles "the fact that you used a condenser mic makes it a gimmick", that bugs me.

I don't need any gimmicks. I just write and perform and that's really just all I know. I don't care about layering or the technical end or who's gf is in attendance or any of the happy horseshit people tend to remark as casually as possible to try and leave an mark.
People are some petty mfers!

I get all kinds of remarks about what I play, how I play, vocals, etc and that doesn't bother me too much. "If ya don't like it, well ok, take it easy, maaaan".

When they start on my equipment, I start to get anxious.
Yeah I use good tools but that doesn't negate the ability to create/perform.

So yeah, I'll be using a regular mic both to record and to play out a little.

That way when the next dimwitted malcontent steps to me, I just nod my head, say "uh-huh" and smile on the inside because I already know that it sounded good enough to make that guy angry enough to try to bring me down.

"There will always be people better and worse than you, the trick is to remember that there is no one exactly like you...that way when you find your own set of special circumstances/unique voicing, you shine like a diamond in the sun".

Anyone who says a condensor mic is a gimmick should be shot and his instrument of choice shoved up his ass - because he doesnt' know what he is talking about!

That's like saying that using a Strat or Les Paul is a gimmick, because you could use a Hondo or Squire or First Act guitar.

Yeah I know Mike, but I didn't like hearing it.

PS: I just ordered a GLS-EM-58-S, the $18 for shipping to NJ bites the crank but I am hopeful the mic will be decent and that's for UPS GROUND.

(ugghhh)

I got my 2 es57's from Amazon with free freight - but I notice they are $40 each there now, not $30, so it works out to about the same thing.

Yeah GLS is a little shifty, they were supposed to send me an email confrimation and now there telling me it will be in my email box circa 6pm est.

Most any entity I had to deal with gives it to you as soon as they run your credit card. These cheesies do it after it leaves the building.

I really don't care, the mic won't make my next session and as long as it doesn't get sent back to CA, "it's all good".